


getting ready for the party

by WattStalf



Series: Commissions [352]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Birthday, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29111751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: Nina doesn't know why everyone makes such a big fuss about her birthday.
Series: Commissions [352]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1325462
Kudos: 4





	getting ready for the party

Nina is honestly not sure why everyone is making such a big fuss over things. Sure, she is a little bit excited for her birthday, but she still does not think that it is this big of a deal, that it should involve this much excitement, and from so many people. Maybe it is because she is not used to having a big deal made about her birthday, and maybe this seems normal for the rest of them, but for her, it just seems like a whole lot of fuss for nothing.

In the past, her birthdays have definitely not been anything to write home about. With her parents mostly being distant as she has grown up, and with it being hard for those outside of her realm to track the passage of time and actually know when her birthday falls, and remember to show up- as if her father ever would- she only ever celebrated with the caretakers that were left for her.

Those celebrations were small, but she liked them. She never felt like she was alone during those times, even if she did not have her family at her side, but she left that life behind when she struck out on her own. She never thought that, when Corrin recruited her into the army, that her birthday would end up being such a damn big deal.

Corrin is the one who gets things started, who has made it a personal mission to remember everyone’s birthday, and make sure that everyone else knows when it is coming up. Everyone always makes a big deal about the birthdays of royalty, of course, but Corrin then makes sure that everyone else’s birthday is treated as equally important. Nina should have known that her number was up eventually, but it managed to slip her mind until suddenly, the day was upon her, and all anyone could talk about was the celebration that Corrin had planned.

Which is what she is getting ready for now, still not at all sure that she deserves all this attention, all this fuss. Were it up to her, she would spend her time alone, working on the new story idea she has, one involving a pair of soldiers from the army that she has spied sharing lunch a few times. She has an idea about how their shared meals could slowly turn into something more, while the two of them try to keep up a sense of normalcy, trying to hide their feelings from each other and then, once they couldn’t anymore, how they would hide it from the rest of the army, not wanting anyone to know the secret of their passion…

“Nina, you’re kind of spacing out again,” Forrest says, bringing her back to present and snapping her right out of that incredibly pleasant fantasy. If she were not forced to get ready for her party, and then actually attend the damn thing, then she could be putting these ideas down on paper, rather than sitting her fantasizing about it. “Also, you sort of started drooling? Should I be concerned, or…?”

“That’s just Nina things,” Soleil pipes up from where she is looking through the assortment of outfits that Forrest has designed for the occasion. “Nothing to worry about, but come on, at least try and live in the moment on your birthday! No need to get lost in a silly daydream about some gross guys holding hands or whatever.”

“For your information, there is nothing _gross_ about it,” Nina snaps, wishing that the two of them would just leave her alone, rather than fussing over her. But Forrest has personally assigned himself the task of making sure that she looks her best tonight, so that no one can outshine his future retainer, not even himself, and Soleil has somehow wormed her way into preparations as well, when Forrest needed advice from someone, and his other retainer could not be found.

Soleil says that she is partially to blame for Ophelia hiding away for the day, and Nina really, _really_ doesn’t know how those things are connected.

Forrest has been preparing for this for quite some time, it seems, because he has quite a few outfits in wildly varying designs, all made perfectly to Nina’s measurements. Taking measurements is almost like a hobby of his, and often, the prince will start doing it mid-conversation, muttering for his conversational partner not to mind him, that he will be done in just a second, and that they can keep doing. It has been a while since Nina was the victim of this, but she has not really grown or changed in that time, so all of the outfits fit her perfectly.

She knows, because she was made to model all of them for him earlier, which was absolutely painstaking. And it did nothing for them, other than confirming that they all fit her just fine, and all look “utterly stunning” on her, so much so that Forrest can’t decide what looks best, and Nina is not much help in that matter. He can tell when she is choosing just to get it over with, and has decided not to trust her, which is why he ended up recruiting Soleil for the job.

Even though he originally wanted Ophelia for it, he now thinks that Soleil was the right choice after all. With all the time that she spends chasing girls, she has quite the discerning eye where beauty is concerned, so she should be the perfect person to pick out the outfit, while he puts all of his focus into doing Nina’s hair and make up, all to make sure that she looks her best. And all the while, Nina continues to wonder why her birthday has to be the source of this much hooplah, when they could all just treat it like a normal day, which she knows she would much prefer.

“The problem is, they all look great,” Soleil says with a sigh. She does not even acknowledge Nina’s attempts to dispute that her fantasies are gross, putting her focus entirely on the task at hand, the real reason that she is here. “Maybe it would help if I could see her wear them…it’s not fair that you got to watch her model all of them, and I didn’t.”

“First of all, nice try, but I’m not letting you get anywhere near that little fashion show,” Nina says. “And even if you weren’t here, there’s no way I’m going through all that again. The next outfit I put on is the one I’m going to wear tonight, and that’s that.”

“Alright, alright. They’re just to _good_ to pick from,” Soleil groans.

“Exactly,” Forrest agrees, not even trying to be modest at this point. “I’m completely lost…if only I’d stopped after the first, but then, who knows if that one would have ended up the right choice?”

“No, that sounds good. Which was the first you made?” Nina asks. “I’ll wear that one, and then we can settle this for good.”

“Nice try,” he replies, and though she can’t see him while he messes with her hair, she can imagine the smirk on his face perfectly well. At least she _did_ try, even if it does not amount to anything. Nina has no idea why this has to be such a big deal, why they both have to act like it will be a catastrophe if she does not pick the exact right outfit. After all, if they all look good, then what’s the problem? She can’t look _bad_ if she chooses one, according to their logic, so that should be the end of that.

Then again, she does not think she is ever going to be capable of understanding any of this, and that probably comes with not being able to understand why so many people care so much about her birthday. Nina can’t really say that she is used to have a fuss made about anything to do with her, and her family is probably entirely to blame for that one. Even so, she has never considered it a problem, so used to it that it all seems entirely natural, to the point that all of this seems strange and foreign. And yet everyone else acts like she is the weird one for not getting why they want to do all of this for her.

Even her hair makes no sense at all. Forrest has been at that for a long time now, and she does not understand why she can’t just wear her usual braids. She does not understand why she has to go out of her way to do so many things differently when she is perfectly content with her normal look, with business as usual. But then, in the back of her mind, she does know that this is just his way of showing that he cares. After all, designing clothes and creating fashionable looks for people are passions of his, and in his mind, the best gift that he can give Nina on her birthday is dedicating as much time as possible to making sure that she looks her best.

Nina can appreciate that, even if it is not her style. And Soleil…well, she is herself, but it is clear that she cares as well, and that she wants to help Nina for this exact reason. She wants to help in whatever way she can because, despite their differences, she cares a lot about Nina as well. There are a lot of people that care about Nina, and that is why tonight is a big deal to them, even if it is not that big of a deal to her.

Is that what this is all about? Letting everyone else have a chance to express how much they care about her? It seems like she would be better off letting them show that by letting _her_ do what she wants, but when she steps away from herself for a moment and considers the feelings of the others, it does make sense to her. They just want to show her that they care, by giving her the best birthday that they can pull together, with everyone doing what makes the most sense to them.

Even though her birthday is, according to them, all about her, at the end of the day, she knows that she needs to stop thinking so much about herself. If she considers how important it is for everyone else, that they get this chance to make her feel loved, then she understands that it would be selfish of her to protest all of their kindness. It doesn’t really bother her that much at all, being fussed over and getting dolled up and celebrating at a nice party. She just isn’t used to that kind of attention, and that is what makes it feel weird to her, what makes her want to resist.

In the end, neither Soleil nor Forrest is able to make a decision after all. With time running out, they let Nina make the choice, picking a dress at random, which Forrest helps her into. Once she steps out, both stare at her, breathless, not saying a word. Nina, with her hair swept up on her head, in a simple red dress, asks, “Is the silence a bad thing, or…?”

“Not at all,” Forrest is finally able to say. “I was just thinking about how we made the right choice.”

“Absolutely,” Soleil agrees. “You look perfect. Now, come on, we can’t just stand around admiring you all night. If we don’t get a move on, you’re going to be late to your own party.”

Nina wouldn’t mind if she was, and wouldn’t mind if she just spent the night in her room, working on a story, but she does not mention that. Instead, she links her arms with the two of them, and starts off in between them, ready to enjoy her party. Just for tonight, she can let everyone make a bit of a fuss over her.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in my writing updates, please follow my fanfiction twitter @WattStalf


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